Karangahape Road Restaurant Month- Eat It Photo: Supplied
Central Auckland street, Karangahape road, or “K Road” as it is widely known has long been an attraction for all walks of life. Vibrant and artistic yet seamy and uneasy, the street has always been a disruptor to the norm; a home to street people, dive bars, tattoo parlours, live music, the queer community and some of the city's most interesting food. It also has a raunchy history as New Zealand’s Red Light district since the early 1960s. July marks the first ever edition of Karangahape’s Restaurant month; Eat It - celebrating the pairing of the two greatest sins, lust and gluttony.
Nick Hall is the co-owner of Caluzzi Cabaret Auckland’s original Drag Queen cabaret show and one of New Zealand's most recognisable Queens, Drag Superstar Anita Wiglit joins Culture 101. Hall says the food and sex scenes on the strip have both improved over the years.
“We found in recent times some amazing restaurants have moved into the area and it’s really created this amazing scene of the grunge of K’ Road and the character has been mixed in with these really beautiful high end amazing restaurants. In the last five or 10 years it's become quite a wonderful place for everyone to explore”.
Caluzzi Cabaret is part of that gastronomic experience offering cabaret drag shows for audiences who break bread over a three course dinner. The 29-year-old bar has been a staple of Karangahape Road for many years.
"We like to call it the ‘adult Disneyland’ of New Zealand where they can come and be silly and forget about life for a while and part of when adults get together they want to go out for food”.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under S1 and finalist of 'New Zealand’s Television Personality of the Year 2021', Anita Wigl'it Photo: supplied
Throughout July Eat It - Restaurant month aims to educate punters about the street's raunchy past and the establishments of yesteryear.
Contemporary Filipino restaurant Bar Magda, has planned ‘Lily’s special’ menu featuring stuffed squid on July 17 in memory of the former tenants of a Swinger's Club on Karangahape Road named Lily’s. Eatery Carmen Jones are planning a special Pink PussyCat cocktail on July 27, an ode to K’ Road’s first Strip Club which opened in 1963, (it ruffled a few feathers with conservatives at the time). 20 food and drink events will unfold throughout July to satisfy two dangerous sins, lust and gluttony.
